Clergy move to counter Georgia law allowing guns in churches

Kristina Torres

Atlanta: Some of Georgia's highest-profile religious leaders took an extra step this week to oppose what they see as an overzealous expansion of the state's new gun laws, with authorities over many of the state's Episcopal and Catholic churches announcing that their sanctuaries would ban all weapons.

The new law, which takes effect July 1, assumes no action by religious leaders will be required unless an individual place of worship decides to allow entry to someone carrying a gun.

Dubbed the "guns everywhere" legislation by opponents, HB 60 passed on the final day of this year's legislative session and expands the list of places where Georgians may legally carry firearms to include schools, bars and government buildings.

It also for the first time expressly permits licensed concealed-weapons holders to bring firearms into churches, provided that an individual place of worship allows it. The legislation reduces the penalty to a $100 fine for licensed gun holders caught in off-limits sanctuaries.

"Rather than making guns more available as a solution, we need leaders in government and society who will speak against violence in all aspects of life and who teach ways of reconciliation and peace and who make justice, not vengeance, our goal," Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Catholic archdiocese of Atlanta wrote in a column in the Georgia Bulletin.

Archbishop Gregory told church leaders and parishioners that the only exception to the church's policy will be on-duty law enforcement officers.

Advertisement

It is a similar mandate to one expected to be approved in the coming week by the board of The Temple synagogue in Atlanta, which is the largest in Georgia with more than 1500 families.

Temple Rabbi Peter Berg called the legislation "embarrassing" and "hands-down the worst bill passed this year". He said it was a wake-up call for religious leaders and others who in the past may not have paid close attention to state politics or policy.

"What I've found is the people I've spoken with, regardless of their political party, are ready to say 'enough'," Rabbi Berg said. "This has to get fixed."